38 Surah Sad [88 verses]

Mecca Period 38

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا أَيُّوبَ...

38: 41. Commemorate Our servant Job,

C4198. For this passage, verses 41-44, Cf. 21:83-84.

... إِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطَانُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ ﴿٤١﴾

behold he cried to his Lord: "The Evil One has afflicted me with distress and suffering"!

C4199. The distress was of many kinds. See n. 2739 to 21:83.

He suffered from loathsome sores; he lost his home, his possessions, and his family; and almost his balance of mind. But he did not lose Faith but turned to Allah (see verse 44 below), and the recuperative process began.

ارْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ...

38: 42. (The command was given:) "Strike with thy foot:

C4200. The recuperative process having begun, he was commanded to strike the earth or a rock with his foot, and a fountain or fountains gushed forth,-to give him a bath and clean his body; to refresh his spirits; and to give him drink and rest.

This is a fresh touch, not mentioned in Surah 21. or in the Book of Job, but adding beautifully to our realisation of the picture.

... هَذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ ﴿٤٢﴾

here is (water) wherein to wash, cool and refreshing, and (water) to drink."

Asad’s Version:

38:41 AND CALL to mind Our servant Job, 37 [how it was] when he cried out to his Sustainer, "Behold, Satan has afflicted me with [utter] weariness and suffering!" 38 –

(38:42) [and thereupon was told:] "Strike [the ground] with thy foot: here is cool water to wash with and to drink!" 39

[[Asad’s notes –

37 See note 78 on 21:83.

38 I.e., with life- weariness in consequence of suffering. As soon as he realizes that God has been testing him, Job perceives that his utter despondency and weariness of life - eloquently described in the Old Testament (The Book of Job iii) - was but due to what is described as "Satan's whisperings" : this is the moral to be drawn from the above evocation of Job's story.

39 According to the classical commentators, the miraculous appearance of a healing spring heralded the end of Job's suffering, both physical and mental. ]]